the myth of workers' control arthur scargill

Study for free with our range of university lectures! Accessed January 06, 2019. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3503545.stm. The Guardian. The Essay Writing ExpertsUK Essay Experts. Scargill's first mistake was refusing to call a National Ballot . Page 13. Downing Street Years. Looking for a flexible role? Page 18. Back in 1983 (even before the great miners strike) the forunner of Solidarity (Socialist Organiser) condemned Scargills attacks on the independent Polish union movement Solidarnosc, but also identified the root cause of Scargills tragic error (nationalism) and denounced the hypocrisy of many of his critics within the labour movement: Its no news that Scargill has a scandalous attitude to Solidarnosc. the myth of workers' control arthur scargill the myth of workers' control arthur scargill on October 1, 2021 on October 1, 2021 [45] Milne, Seumas. Arrow, 1994. : Univ. Many people blame him for the failure of Miners Strike due to his poor leadership skills and bad judgement. The Miners Strike Day by Day: The Illustrated 1984-85 Diary of Yorkshire Miner Arthur Wakefield. Thatcher deliberately chose to make the miners who continued to work look like heroes and make the striking miners look like the public enemy. Wilsher, Peter, Donald Macintyre, and Michael CE Jones, eds. The union is known for leading the longest as well as the most violent miners` strike in the history of British history. The Institute for Workers' Control was formed in 1968, building on a series of conferences over several years, to act as a research and educational body, to encourage discussion and communication between workers' control groups and trade unions, and to publish important materials on industrial democracy and workers' control. EconBiz.Logger.enable_Autocompletion_tracking(); The End of an Era Diaries 1980-90. Page 345. A household name in the seventies and eighties, it was easy to imagine the strike as a personal conflict between Scargill and his nemesis, Margaret Thatcher. He did not. He was a destructive force, in the Labour Party, and in the NUM. London: Fontana, 1992. Another controversial action that Thatcher took was giving the police ultimate power during the strike. September 09, 2018. ", Howell, David, et al. His policy alienated most of the Nottinghamshire miners, undermined his position with the leaders of the trade union movement, hurt the union's reputation in British public opinion, and led to violence along the picket line. However, it can be argued that government preparations werent sufficient enough in order to bring down the miners. This included Norman Tebbits radical reforms[39] as put by Tony Benn, who was newly elected to the mining seat and a clear supporter of the 1984-85 Miners strike[40]. The myth of workers' control; More details; The myth of workers' control . His major innovation was organising "flying pickets" involving hundreds or thousands of committed strikers who could be bussed to critical strike points to shut down a target. [17] Still the Enemy Within (2014). IMDb. S.l. Accessed October 12, 2018. After the Miners were beaten into submission in 1984and the rest of uscheated and swindled by that government and successive government afterwards. [43] In February 2012, Scargill won 13,000 in a court action against the NUM, primarily for car expenses, and for the earlier temporary denial of membership. Andrew Marr is one of many historians who support this view and believed that The Nottinghamshire miners turned out to be critical. [34] Wakefield, Arthur, and Brian Elliot. Airport staff at Leeds-Bradford Airport identified Scargill attempting to travel under a false name (Arthur Fenn) wearing a disguise on 20 July, and turned him away to purchase a genuine ticket with his true identity. [31] Campbell, John. In fact, stocks were much higher[27]. The Myth of Workers' Control (booklet) Person/Body (Historic): Scargill, Arthur. An article published in The Times in August 2015 stated that Scargill had spoken to the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union conference in June 2015, and that he was due to appear alongside Jeremy Corbyn at the Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign in September 2015. Seumas Milne, who takes the Marxist view, supports Thatchers argument that government preparations werent sufficient enough to cause the failure of the strike. [49], After stepping down from leadership of the NUM, Scargill became active in the UK's Stalin Society[50] saying that the "ideas of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin explain the real world". Accessed October 10, 2018. https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/37592/How the Miners Strike could have won. Margaret Thatcher. Thereafter Scargill led the NUM through the 19841985 miners' strike. Parcourez la librairie en ligne la plus vaste au monde et commencez ds aujourd'hui votre lecture sur le Web, votre tablette, votre tlphone ou un lecteur d'e-books. [15] However, Scargill's statements in the years after becoming NUM president divided left-wing opinion with his support of the Soviet Union, most notably when he refused to support the TUC's positions on the Solidarity union in Poland or on the Soviet shooting down of the Korean Air Lines Flight 007. The motto, An injury to one is an injury to all, applies world-wide. National Archives: Margaret Thatcher Wanted to Crush Power of Trade Unions.. 11: Britains Longest-serving Cabinet Member Recalls the Triumphs and Disappointments of the Thatcher Era. This was a complete reversal of the policy that was promised by the Labour Government before it was put into office this represents a betrayal of the mining industry. [29] Thatcher, Margaret. This will reset the permalinks and fix the issue in many cases. He stepped down from leadership of the NUM at the end of July 2002, to become the honorary president. This is because had the NUM come out nationally in favour of the strike, Nottinghamshire area would have won permission for its own ballot and remained at work. Many of us started in the 1950s in the Young Communist League. Person/Body (Historic): A. Taylor & Sons Ltd. This shows that even someone who takes the traditional mainstream media view, that because of Scargills actions the strike was poorly supported and doomed to fail, you cant deny the amount of support that the miners had. If not, correct the error or revert back to the previous version until your site works again. However, Margaret Thatchers intentions in this source have to be questioned as this book was published in 1993 after Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister in 1990, therefore she may have been trying to justify her actions and downplay the use of police in the miners strike. Page 317. [17], The government announced on 6 March 1984 its intention to close 20 coal mines, revealing as well the plan in the long-term to close over 70 pits. [6] Marr, Andrew. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Articles like the above, years later are actually a compliment to Arthur. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UKEssays.com. [10] Still the Enemy Within (2014). IMDb. March 10, 2004. [5] In 1957 he was elected NUM Yorkshire Area Youth Delegate, and attended the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow as a representative of the Yorkshire miners. (1980), Scargill, Arthur, A miner at the age of 18, he was a member (1955-62) of the Young Communist League before joining the Labour Party.In 1981, Scargill became president of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).His attempt to confront Margaret Thatcher's programme of pit closures and anti-union legislation led to a miner's strike (1984-85). When you have a missing image on your site you may see a box on your page with with a red X where the image is missing. The End of an Era Diaries 1980-90. March 10, 2004. ", "Cabinet papers reveal 'secret coal pits closure plan', "Cameron rejects Labour call for miners' strike apology", "SCARGILL LEAVES HIS WIFE AFTER 37 YEARS; My marriage is over he tells pals", "Scargill used Thatcherite policy in bid to buy London flat", "National Union of Mineworkers 'expels' Arthur Scargill", "Arthur Scargill wins 13,000 union damages", "Why Arthur Scargill is reluctant to leave his 1.5m Barbican flat", "In search of Arthur Scargill: 30 years after the miners' strike", "List of candidates for the EU Parliamentary elections", "Stalin apologists drink to the memory of Uncle Joe", "Scargill angers unions with Solidarity attack", "Old comrades rub hands with glee at return of hard left", "Scargill highlights policy differences with Jeremy Corbyn", "Brexit means we can reopen the mines and cotton mills, says Arthur Scargill", "Ex-miners' leader Arthur Scargill announced among speakers for 'Rebel Town Festival' in South Tyneside", "Arthur Scargill joins RMT picket at Wakefield", "Arthur Scargill joins striking rail workers on picket line", "Engagements - Debated on Wednesday 22 June 2022", "Johnson and Starmer spar over rail strikes at PMQs", "National Assembly for Wales Election Results 19992007", "Arthur Scargill and the Battle of Saltley Gate" BBC News 10 February 2012, Review of BBC Radio Play: "The Duel", by Michael Samuels the struggle for control of the UK coal industry in 1984, Trade Union International of Energy Workers, Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom, List of political parties in the United Kingdom, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arthur_Scargill&oldid=1137688669, Young Communist League of Britain members, Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress, Presidents of the National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain), Short description is different from Wikidata, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from April 2021, Articles with dead external links from October 2019, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d [54] He gave a rare television interview to ITV News at that time. Shirley Letwin takes the mainstream media view that Arthur Scargills incompetence as a leader caused the miners strike to fail. Neil Kinnock even compared Scargill with a general who wanted another Gallipoli[3]. Scargill was born in Worsbrough Dale near Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire. This lack of support can be blamed on the leadership of Arthur Scargill; therefore, the leadership of Arthur Scargill is a more important factor in the failure of the miners strike in 1985. RewriteEngine On Scargill, Arthur (1938- ) English trade union leader. Their support would have been vital if they were to win the strike; this is presented by Cabinet minutes which show that Thatchers priority was to settle the dock strike as quickly as possible in order to allow the government to concentrate on winning the miners strike[15]. Absolute nonsense on all accords above. Page 150-152, [2] Campbell, John. [26], There is a prevailing view that Arthur Scargill, the NUM National President, called the strike. However, if it had gone the other way the Yorkshire area would have come out and other areas would have to decide whether to give support. London: Vintage, 2008. In 1961, Scargill was elected a member of the Woolley NUM Branch Committee. London: Vintage, 2008. [60][61], London Assembly elections (entire London city). Authors: Scargill, Arthur; Kahn, Peggy: Publisher: Leeds [u.a.] A lot of other people on the National Executive at that time went on and became very respectable Labour MPs in Parliament. See the Section on 404 errors after clicking a link in WordPress. Page 346. [24] Letwin, Shirley Robin. [14] The section under "staff procedures" details how Scargill monitored head office staff: Mr. Scargill's vendetta against Head Office staff has at times descended to the most puerile and paranoic [sic] levels. John Campbell sums up the mainstream media view by saying The Governments only role was to uphold the liberty of those miners and others who wanted to work[31]. At the time, Britain had 170 working. If you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help! Routledge, 1997. He claimed that the government had a long-term strategy to destroy the industry by closing unprofitable pits, and that it listed pits it wanted to close each year. By 1984 however the police were ready and neutralized the tactic with superior force. This is given credence by striking miner, Arthur Wakefield; This time the police go berserk and the Riot Squad charge up the field with the Calvary they turn to where we are standing peacefully picketing and start hitting whoever they come across[34]. The view that the failure to call a National Ballot, by Scargill, cost him valuable support is advocated by Shirley Letwin; Nor did he bother to abide by his own unions rules which required that a strike shall be entered upon as the result of a ballot vote of the members.[1] This led to the miners losing the support of many, including Labour Partys- Neil Kinnock, who felt emotionally disposed to support the miners but aware that it would be political suicide to do so[2]. [38], Film director Ken Loach subsequently made "The Arthur Legend" as part of Channel 4's Dispatches series. By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions. If your blog is showing the wrong domain name in links, redirecting to another site, or is missing images and style, these are all usually related to the same problem: you have the wrong domain name configured in your WordPress blog. The miners had already built up a fearsome reputation as the shock troops for organised labour and during his time as leader of the Yorkshire coalfield, Mr Scargill had rarely been out of the news. This strengthens Milnes argument that the police brutality, authorised by Thatcher, was unjustified. If this doesn't work, you may need to edit your .htaccess file directly. Milne explains how the strike was a last-ditch fight to defend jobs, mining communities and the NUM itself against a government prepared to bring into play unlimited resources and its entire panoply of coercive powers as and where necessary to break the union and its backbone of support[22]. Please click on a checkbox next to an item and try again. Scargill said himself that the real reason that the NUM areas such as Nottinghamshire, South Derbyshire and Leicestershire wanted a national strike ballot was that they wanted the strike called off, believing naively that their pits were safe[7]. //--> Barnsley: Wharncliffe, 2002. Harpercollins Publishers, 2012. Aucun commentaire n'a t trouv aux emplacements habituels. Therefore, Tony Benns argument is more convincing than Eric Evans as he takes into account the failures of the miners as well as giving credit to the amount of support the strike had as well. Peter, Gibbon. The judge Sir Sydney Templeman held that it was unlawful that union members were disciplined by the NUM disciplinary panel, which Scargill chaired, for appearing as witnesses testifying against Scargill in a libel case. His comments followed a question in the Commons from Labour MP Lisa Nandy, who said the miners and their families deserved an apology for the mine closures. //-->, Unions on the board : an experiment in industrial democracy, Batstone, Eric, [30] Lawson, Nigel. This varies by browser, if you do not see a box on your page with a red X try right clicking on the page, then select View Page Info, and goto the Media Tab. Without their support, victory for the miners looked uncertain as they were the best paid, with better conditions promised by Thatcher[13]. These days he only gets to speak at the crankiest of Stalinist events. Love him or hate him a lot that Mr Scargill and the Minors stood against in the1970/80s has now come to fruition, the uprise ofThatcherism,greed is good, stand on your neighbour to get a head! Page 342. [8], Scargill was a leader of the unofficial strike in 1969, which began in Yorkshire and spread across the country. "Our communities are now just about dead on their feet." The strike started in Yorkshire in March . [14] Benn, Tony. Nicholas Ridley conveys the mainstream media view that the failure of the strike was due to sufficient preparations for the strike by the government and out rightly says He might have won at Orgreave if it hadnt been for the preparations that the Government had made. The Socialist Labour Party ( SLP) is a socialist political party in the United Kingdom. Redirects and rewriting URLs are two very common directives found in a .htaccess file, and many scripts such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and Magento add directives to the .htaccess so those scripts can function. Nothing good about it. To export a reference to this article please select a referencing stye below: If you are the original writer of this essay and no longer wish to have your work published on UKEssays.com then please: Our academic writing and marking services can help you! This article about a political figure is a stub. A dialogue box may appear asking you about encoding. Still the Enemy Within (2014). IMDb. London: Verso, 2014. However, many people argue that there was a lot of support for the strike so therefore it couldnt have been such an important factor in its failure in 1985. On the appointment of Ian MacGregor as head of the NCB in 1983, Scargill stated, "The policies of this government are clear to destroy the coal industry and the NUM". In this example the file must be in public_html/example/Example/. Downing Street Years. The Enemy Within: M15, Maxwell and the Scargill Affair. The strike started in Yorkshire, and he was not present at the delegate Council meeting in Barnsley. [51] Scargill criticised Poland's Solidarity calling it an "anti-socialist organisation which desires the overthrow of a socialist state", which Scargill saw as deformed but reformable. This article, far from being full of lies, hit the nail, well and truly, on the head. Page 340. He was also on the hard-left of the Labour Party, often disagreeing with Neil Kinnock who couldnt support the strike due to its illegitimacy after Scargills failure to call a ballot. The authorities must be using the army[32]. This was seen as violent and was deemed illegal. Accessed January 06, 2019. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3503545.stm. London: Corgi Books, 1993. These days he only gets to speak at the crankiest of Stalinist events. Would JD care to say why he writes in such a vindictive and aggressive style? However, if the outcome of the 84-5 strike can be regarded, at one level, as a tragedy, then Scargills post-85 trajectory can only be viewed as an even deeper tragedy. Not even many of the Stalinists he hangs round with. The myth of workers' control by Arthur Scargill 0 Ratings 0 Want to read 0 Currently reading 0 Have read Overview View 2 Editions Details Reviews Lists Related Books Publish Date 1980 Publisher University of Leeds, University of Nottingham Language English Pages 22 This edition doesn't have a description yet. A debate on workers' control. Page 161. [23] BATTLE FOR BRITAIN; on the 25th Anniversary of the Miners Strike, NORMAN TEBBIT Reveals Why He Believes Defeat Would Have Been the Death of Democracy. Daily Mail (London), March 6, 2009. The Alliance for Workers' Liberty is an organisation fighting as part of the labour movement for a socialist alternative to both capitalism and Stalinism, based on common ownership and democracy. The editor of the Daily Mirror at the time, Roy Greenslade, wrote an article in The Guardian in May 2002 to apologise to Scargill for the false claims about paying off the mortgage and for putting too much trust in Roger Windsor, who at the time had still not repaid the 29,500 that he had taken from the Miners' Welfare Fund and that the Lightman Report had asked that he repay. [31] There was much criticism of Scargill within the NUM from the Welsh and Scottish areas, who briefly considered splitting from the NUM. https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2000/jan/07/guardianletters4, https://www.marxist.com/britain-when-britain-went-to. Page 414. Page 70. Therefore, Thatcher and her governments actions could have caused the failure of the strike but to what extent these actions can be justified is still widely argued. [38] Thatcher, Margaret. "It's so hypocritical it's unreal," he said. A History of Modern Britain. This had great implications for regional relations in the NUM; the executive was described as dominated by "Gormley's rotten boroughs", since every region even quite small ones had one delegate, and the larger regions had only a few more (Scotland and South Wales had two delegates each, Yorkshire had three). Here you can choose which regional hub you wish to view, providing you with the most relevant information we have for your specific region. This is supported by Margaret Thatcher herself; His (Ian McGregor) impression was that the police were failing to uphold criminal law and that the pickets had been able to prevent people going to work[38]. The party was established in 1996 and is led by Arthur Scargill, a former Labour Party member and the former leader of the National Union of Mineworkers. [41] Campbell, John. [he fails to see that] the working class is a world class. Thatcher, herself, advances this view in her memoirs The Downing Street Years and echoed by many other Thatcherites such as Nigel Lawson, Shirley Letwin and historians such as John Campbell. The issue of Scargills leadership is argued as the main reason that the miners strike failed. First shown: 06/. Page 341. Read online at https://workersliberty.org/node/34498, Submitted by AWL on 18 September, 2019 - 11:48, Letters: Hands off Clara Zetkin and Rosa Luxemburg, Holodomor: the Ukrainian famine of 1932-33, Tubeworker (London Underground) (bulletin), Off the Rails (national rail workers) (bulletin), Off the Rails (national rail workers) (blog), Notts Off the Rails (Nottingham rail workers) (bulletin), On Guard (Sheffield rail workers) (bulletin). [4] He joined the Young Communist League in 1955, becoming its Yorkshire District Chair in 1956 and shortly after a member of its National Executive Committee. [56], In July 2021 he spoke at the Rebel Town Festival in Jarrow. [18] Still the Enemy Within (2014). IMDb. Letwins Thatcherite view is also discredited by Tony Benn who says The issue of a national ballot was really irrelevant. //